Sparky Underground.

Saturday, 8 September 2012

I've been planning this for a while. basically, this blog has almost every piece of my writing.

If you want to read an abandoned story, you can read it, there's a short comment on what I think of each story, you can ask for the ending of old stories in the comment section (or what I planned of the endings) and-if you really want to- pester me to restart stories.

Hayley looked over her shoulder,
clutching a cloaking sphere. She was running through the back streets of Sydney
away from the Chifley Tower. She dodged trashcans, jumped dumpsters and
sidestepped pedestrians. She sprinted into an empty alley and hid in the
shadows. She saw the Cleavers walk into the alley. There were three of them. It
was only thanks to her sheer speed that she was here and not in shackles. She
knew this alley like the back of her hand. She silently stepped up onto the
loose brick in the wall behind her. With out a sound, she stood on the dumpster
next to her. She ran off and jumped, and ran up the wall whistling all the
while. When she reached the top of the building she looked down and laughed at
the Cleavers. Hayley twisted the cloaking sphere on. As the bubble encased her
she sang with joy. Without a care in the world she flipped across the top of
Sydney. She was headed for Lavender Bay. She jumped off a building rolled just
as the cloaking sphere clicked off. She walked casually across the Harbour
Bridge. She stopped halfway across and looked over the edge. She checked the
area around her. There was no one there. She grabbed the railing and vaulted
over the edge. She gripped the underside of the bridge with her left hand and
pulled on the harness she had installed with her right. She clicked the harness
on and slid towards North Sydney.

She dropped off the bottom of the
Harbour Bridge and got a ferry to Lavender Bay. She hopped off the ferry and
strolled down the beach. She then ran up one of the rock ledges and lay down
and waited for her employer to arrive. Soon enough she saw shadows gather and
Conner Sickle stepped out. Connor Sickle had black hair, black skin and
absolutely no muscle whatsoever. He was tall and skinny. However the item he
channelled his magic into made him quite scary. A sickle. Unfortunately the
effect created by the sickle died as soon as he spoke with that nasal voice of
his.

‘Do you have it?’ He asked, in
earnest. Hayley took the cloaking sphere out of her leather jacket and held it.

‘My payment?’ She said lazily. He
reached into his pocket and waved it.

‘Got it. Now give me that.’ He
said. Haley shook her head.

‘Doesn’t work like that, buster.
Give me the cash.’ Conner frowned and gave her the money. She counted it and
smiled.

‘It’s been nice doing business with
you sir.’ She said bowing. She twisted the cloaking sphere and flipped into the
tree behind her. She grinned. She may have done some bad stuff, but she didn’t
work with necromancers. She dropped back to the ground and threw a rock in the
trees. She then ran in the other direction laughing. What a sucker. She was
heading back to the Sanctuary for a ‘special meeting’. Of course, she would be
giving them their toy back. For a price. She stopped next to her motorbike, a
Suzuki Hayabusa. She swung her leg over the seat. She had gotten her licence
long before any of her friends, because she chose a bike over a car. She revved
and drove away.

Twenty minutes later Hayley parked in
the very bottom floor of the Chifley Tower. This place gave her the creeps. It
made you feel like all of Sydney could be flattened and you would never know.
She walked to the staircase and pressed one of the bricks. A second set of
stairs opened. She walked down them and saw Skulduggery Pleasant waiting. She
pulled out her Mark 23 in a flash and had it trained on Skulduggery.

‘Hello Hayley. How long has it
been?’ Skulduggery said cheerfully. Hayley scowled.

‘Seven months. How have you been?’ She clicked the safety
off. Skulduggery waved his hand and the gun flew out of Hayley’s grip.

‘Fine now that there isn’t a gun
pointed at me. And you?’ Skulduggery said.

‘Great. I’m on the list if you were
wondering.’ Skulduggery stepped out of her way. She picked up her gun and hurried
past Skulduggery. She sat in the lobby, wondering why he had come back to
Australia. Hopefully not to settle old scores. She shuddered. Eventually Hayley
got called into the Hall of the Elders.

‘Better Elder Arianna Utter?’ She spat out.
Arianna did not like Hayley. Hayley did not like Arianna. Hayley reckoned that
Arianna focused on the fact that Hayley stole from the Sanctuary on a regular
basis rather than the fact that Hayley always stole the thing back and returned
it to the Sanctuary within a week. Hayley was a freelance, and that’s all Utter
ever saw. But she wasn’t just a freelance.
She was well-behaved one. Hayley thought Arianna was smart, but not clever. She
missed the big things and went on first impressions. Hayley remembered how they
had met. Hayley had been running out of the Sanctuary and had run into her. In
retrospect it was not her best intro.

‘Here it is, I
used it twice, but it should still be fine.’ Hayley said, tossing the cloaking
sphere at Opine. He caught it, fumbled and eventually got it still.

‘This is a very
important piece of equipment Skirmish. Do not throw it around willy-nilly.’
Opine snarled. Gosh, he didn’t like her either. Maybe it was because she
insisted on calling him Elder Jerry. She also knew that he couldn’t catch.

‘I wasn’t
throwing it willy-nilly. I threw it at
you. That’s hardly willy-nilly.’ She grinned. Burritt smiled as well.

‘Thank you for
returning it so quickly. I take it you didn’t need to steal it back.’ Burritt
said. Hayley nodded.

‘I don’t work for
necromancers. I got the money and came back.’

‘So you stiffed
him?’

‘Basically. Why
are we having this meeting anyway? Normally I just return it.’

Burritt frowned.
That was an astoundingly bad sign.

‘You want me to
do what?’ Hayley cried. Utter and
Opine were smiling.

‘We want you to
steal from the necromancer temple, and bring the item here.’ Astute said.
Hayley shook her head.

‘That’s not what
I’m worried about. You want me to become a Sanctuary theft agent?’

They all nodded.
She paced. She stopped.

‘Sanctuary
approved everything? No offence, but
where’s the fun?’

‘What about the
stealing bit? That’s the fun for you. So please steal this item.’ Burritt said.
Hayley sighed.

‘Who am I
stealing from?’ She asked. Opine checked a file.

‘Connor Sickle.’

‘Oh no.’ Hayley
groaned.

‘Why?’

‘I just stiffed
him. If he sees me, I’m dead.’ Burritt grimaced, Utter smiled and Opine winced.
They explained what Hayley was supposed to do, and she wasn’t going to do a
thing of it. Burritt knew this, but Utter and Opine were none the wiser. Hayley
thanked them and walked out of the Sanctuary meeting Skulduggery again. This
time his gun was out first.

‘Please don’t
point that at me. I’m not in the greatest of moods right now.’

‘What’s wrong?’
He asked, putting the gun away.

‘They want me to
work for the Sanctuary. I’m doing a job for them now.’

‘Why is that a bad
thing? I work for the Sanctuary, it’s fun, I get to punch people and they don’t
get to punch me.’

‘But I just stole
from this guy. If he sees me, I’m finished.’ She grumbled.

‘Want me to help?
I’m supposed to be on vacation, but this sounds like fun. Who are you stealing
from?’

‘Connor Sickle.
Necromancer. I just took cash from him without giving him the item he payed
for. Bad news all round.’ She looked at him. He nodded.

‘Well, what are
we waiting for?’ As he walked towards the exit.

Hayley thought as
she drove towards the cemetery. The plan was that she would infiltrate the
temple, find the item and leave. Simple right? Wrong. The problem was what they
wanted to be stolen. They wanted Connor’s sickle.
That would undoubtedly make him angry. What’s the point in being Connor Sickle
without a Sickle? She revved down the street with Skulduggery’s Bentley next to
her. Occasionally he wound down the window and they chatted.

‘So you know
where the cemetery is?’ Skulduggery asked.

‘Yeah, I’ve been
there.’ She swerved into a driveway and Skulduggery followed, hot on her tail.
She slowed down and drove to what looked like a very old public toilet. She
parked , got off and beckoned for Skulduggery to hurry up. He opened the
Bentley door and snapped a twig on the ground as he stepped out. Hayley scowled
back and put a finger to her lips. He nodded and floated over. Hayley’s eyes
widened. That was new. She then pulled the cloaking sphere out of her jacket
and twisted it on.

‘Since when could
you fly?’ She asked.

‘When did you get
that?’

‘The Cloaking
Sphere?’ She grinned, ‘I was meant to be returning it to the Sanctuary when I
was assigned to this job. I’d already returned it, but I took it again.’

‘Very well.
Where’s the cemetery?’ He asked.

‘Look around.’
She replied. Skulduggery looked around and saw gravestones in the undergrowth.
The walked through the cemetery being perfectly quiet even though the Cloaking
Sphere was protecting them. Hayley walked up to the crypt at the edge of the
graveyard. She then took a key out of her pocket.

‘What’s that?’
Skulduggery asked.

‘A key.’

‘I can see that.
It appears to be a key to the crypt. How did you get it?’

‘I stole it.’

‘From?’

‘Connor Sickle. I
saw him earlier today. I thought a key to the Necromancer Temple would be
useful.’ She mumbled as she unlocked the door. There was a necromancer standing
in front of the door. Hayley froze. Skulduggery tapped her shoulder.

‘Cloaking
Sphere.’ He said pointing at the ball.

‘How long do we
have?’ She asked. He looked at the Sphere and held up two gloved fingers. Not
sure whether it was minutes or seconds she quickly hide against the wall. She
saw that she was correct to hide as Skulduggery floated above the door.

‘Who’s there?
This door didn’t open by itself. Show yourselves!’ The necromancer shouted,
walking outside and looking around. Skulduggery landed inside the Temple
without a sound. Hayley walked into the room on the ceiling. She walked above
him into the main hall. She hopped onto the ground next to Skulduggery and they
nodded to each other, pulled their handguns out and walked against opposite
walls. Skulduggery peeked around the corner and nodded to Hayley. She padded
across the hall and plastered herself to the new wall. Skulduggery walked into
the corridor and walked into a room. He beckoned her in.

They walked back
out of the room wearing black robes. They walked around looking carefully at
each of the necromancers that they passed until Hayley elbowed Skulduggery and
turned around.

‘Are you sure
that’s him?’ He whispered.

‘Positive.’ They
walked behind him and followed him into a room. He turned around.

‘What are you
doing in here?’ He asked irritably. Hayley took her hood off.

‘You?! What are you
doing here?’ He asked, his face turning red. Skulduggery took his hood off.
Hayley held out the Cloaking Sphere. Connor grabbed for it. Hayley took it
back.

‘Trade.’ She
said. Sickle looked at both of them.

‘What are we
trading?’

‘This is the
problem. You aren’t going to trade. We already know that, so it’s a matter of
skipping to the bit where we hit you.’ Skulduggery said. Connor paled.

‘What’s wrong?
You asked for it, I’m going to give it to you.’ He said. They stared at him.

‘Why are you
giving to us without a fight?’ Hayley asked warily.

‘Because I need the Cloaking Sphere.’ Hayley looked
at the Cloaking Sphere and punched Connor’s nose as hard as she could. He
stumbled back, blood streaming from his nose.

‘What was that
for?!’ He exclaimed.

‘Because I need
the Cloaking Sphere.’

‘Then why did you offer it to me?!’ He
exclaimed. Hayley shrugged.

‘I dunno. It
seemed like a good idea at the time.’ Hayley said. Connor scowled.

‘Well, my nose
hurts. Please don’t hit me again. You can take my sickle and the Cloaking
Sphere if I can have my money back.’ He mumbled. Hayley grinned and took the
sickle out of his hand.

‘Lets go.’ She
said to Skulduggery.

‘This went
nicely. Good-bye Mr Sickle. I hope to never meet you again.’ Skulduggery said
cheerily. They walked out the room into a group of rather angry looking
necromancers.

‘Oh.’ Hayley
said.

‘Ah.’ Skulduggery
murmured.

‘We’ll just be
leaving now.’ Hayley smiled. The necromancers laughed. She sighed and jumped, snaking
both of her legs out and kicking to of the necromancers. Skulduggery snapped
his palms outwards and the necromancers were thrown backwards.

‘As I said, we’ll
just be leaving now.’ Hayley said again. She turned and sprinted towards the
exit Skulduggery at her side. They ran out into the darkness. Hayley flipped
onto her bike and revved it. She watched Skulduggery dive into the Bentley and
turn it on. As they drove away Hayley frowned. That had been far easier than
anticipated.

‘Why?’ She
whispered. He flicked his eyes at the ceiling and she nodded.

‘Yes Grand Mage.
I’ll get right onto it.’ She said loudly. She turned and walked out, grabbing
Skulduggery on the way.

‘We are going
up.’ She said to him firmly. Skulduggery cocked his head, but didn’t argue.

The walked outside
the Chifley Tower and Hayley got out the Cloaking Sphere again. That thing was
really handy. She twisted it and watched the bubble expand around Skulduggery
and herself.

‘Ready?’ She
asked him.

‘What exactly are
we doing anyway?’

‘Burritt told me
to meet him on the roof.’

‘This roof?’ He
said pointing up.

‘What other
roof?’ She laughed and started running up the side of the Chifley Tower.
Skulduggery whistled and flew up after her. Skulduggery landed as Hayley
reached the top. There was a silhouette on the rooftop. Hayley nodded to
Skulduggery and pulled out her gun. Skulduggery did the same.

‘Who is it?’ The
silhouette called.

‘Skulduggery
Pleasant and Hayley Skirmish. Who are you?’ Skulduggery called.

‘Yes it is.’
Hayley replied.

‘Names are not
the concern of dead people Miss Skirmish.’

‘I’m not dead.’
Hayley scowled.

‘Yes you are.’

‘Nope, I’m still
kicking.’ She said sensing a trap. She ducked and flipped backwards. There was
someone waiting.

‘Damn. She
jumped. Where’d you go you little b-‘

‘Now that isn’t
very nice language is it?’ She smiled. This
was the fun bit. She jumped in front of him again, turning in mid-air so
that she landed acing him. She then grabbed his head and brought her knee up to
meet his chin. He yelled and stumbled backwards. Hayley quickly darted behind
him and kept him from falling off the building. She then whacked the back of
his head with the butt of the gun. She smiled as his head hit the ground with a
satisfying crack. She looked up and
saw Skulduggery throwing flame at his two assailants. Wait… Two? Hayley attempted to flip but
someone grabbed her ankle and brought her back down to the floor. She tried to
raise her arms to protect her head but only succeeded in hitting her elbows
against the ground and her head against it harder. She saw stars and felt her
self being held upside down. She opened her eyes and felt sick. She looked down
at the ground and quickly figured out that she was being held over the edge of
the building. This was bad. She gripped the mans wrist with her feet, twisted
and heard the mans wrist crack. He yelped and dropped her. She swore and felt
another hand around her ankle. She looked up and saw a gloved hand pulling her
up.

‘Thanks.’ Hayley
breathed. Skulduggery pulled her onto the roof, and grabbed his gun off the
ground. Hayley did the same and they both shoot at each of the men. They fell
to the ground and stayed there.

‘That’s the last
off them. Time to go.’ Skulduggery called.

‘Then what are we
waiting for?’ Skulduggery grabbed her waist and they flew away from the Chifley
Tower.

Hayley leaned
against the railing on the Harbour Bridge and thought. Why had Burritt sent her
up there? They were friends weren’t they? She didn’t know anymore. Skulduggery
appeared next to her with a boy who had stupid hair.

‘Are you coming
Hayley?’ Skulduggery asked. She looked over her shoulder and nodded. They
teleported and immediately got showered in rain. Hayley sighed. Ireland. This
was certainly going to be interesting.

So, that was the story I wrote to go with the character competition at the end of last year. Um, I look at it and...

Scarlet walked out of school, her two ‘friends’ complaining
about a Maths test or something.

‘Scarlet, what do you think?’ One of them asked. Scarlet
turned, glaring. The two girls cowered.

‘I think that you wouldn’t be complaining as much if you had
been paying attention in Maths instead of drooling at Travis.’ She scowled and
kept walking. The girls looked at each other, looked back at Scarlet, realised
they were being left behind and caught up with her.

‘Scarlet, you can’t treat us like that. You lucky to even,
like, be talking to us.’ The second said. Scarlet stopped and faced them again.

‘Lucky? Lucky? How could anyone possibly think of me as
lucky when I have two morons following me everywhere? Your constant chatter is
turning my brain to mush. Goodbye Charlotte. Goodbye Jessica.’ And with that
Scarlet walked home by herself, feeling like she should’ve done that three
weeks ago when the two idiots had started to follow her like lost puppies. Scarlet
sat down on her favourite bench at the park and started doing her homework.
About five minutes later, a boy sat at the other end of the bench.

* * *

Two boys peeked around the corner. They were looking at an
enormous set of doors. The doors were tall and grey. They looked like steel,
but the boys couldn’t tell from the distance.

‘Dude, it can’t be true.’ The first said.

‘Shush! Travis, if
they hear us, we are dead meat.’ The second whispered frantically. Travis
laughed.

‘It is! I swear, it is.’

‘Prove it.’ Travis smirked.

‘Okay. Look at the entrance. If it wasn’t the entrance, why are there people guarding it? And why are
there chains and locks around the door?’

‘Ace, it could be a prison.’ Travis said.

‘Travis! You know that isn’t a prison. You took me to the prison.’ Ace groaned.

‘True. But I still don’t believe you.’ Travis said. Ace
sighed.

‘C’mon, if we stay any longer we’ll get caught.’

‘Fine.’ Travis grinned. They headed back to Ace’s house.

‘Travis I am sure that was the place.’ Ace insisted, walking
in the gutter.

‘Why? Ace, really, why?’ Travis asked.

‘Because it makes sense. The doors would be small or
decorated if it were for, say, the town hall.’ Ace was about to continue, when
he saw a girl walking on the other side of the road. ‘Sorry Travis, got to go.’
Ace ran after her. Travis watched him go and shrugged.

* * *

Scarlet ignored the boy, concentrating on her homework. The
boy said nothing. He sat, watching Scarlet intently and didn’t say a word.
After twenty minutes Scarlet sighed, put her work down and scowled at him.

‘Are you here to stalk me, or tell me something? Because I
don’t like people breathing down my neck while I work.’ She said, impatiently.
The boy said nothing. Scarlet glared at him, something that generally made
people cower. The boy stared back at her. Scarlet frowned slightly and glowered
again. She inspected him. He had short black hair. His eyes were dark and his
skin was pale.

‘Scarlet Grant, you have an assignment.’ He said. His voice
was deep and menacing.

‘I do. I have a Maths assignment and a Science assignment
and a History assignment- I could go on all day. But I am sure that isn’t what
you mean.’

‘You are correct. Here.’ He handed her a folder. ‘You have
one week to decide whether you will comply or not. If you do agree, I shall be
seeing you again. If not, it was nice meeting you.’ He got up and walked away.
Scarlet watched him walk away, very confused. She shook her head and finished
her homework. Then she checked to see if anyone was around. No one was. She
picked up the folder and looked at the outside. It was cream and made of
cardboard. It looked very, very professional. Scarlet opened it up and started
reading.

* * *

Ace followed the girl, silently. Eventually she walked into
an empty alley.

‘Hello again Ace Collins.’ She said, not turning. Ace had
been approached by the same girl and few days previously. She had long,
straight black hair, dark eyes and pale skin.

‘My name isn’t important. I told you that boy didn’t trust
you. Are you ready?’

‘Your name is
important. Show me the folder.’ He said, narrowing his eyes. The girl turned
around and handed him the folder.

'My name is not important. You have one week to
decide whether you will comply or not. If you do agree, I shall be seeing you
again. If not, it was nice meeting you.' And with that she turned and left. Ace
watched her go, then left for a nearby park. He sat down near a pond and looked
at the folder. It was cream and cardboard. It looked extremely official. Ace opened
it and started reading.

* * *

Scarlet finished reading the folder and looked at the bottom
of the last page. There was a dotted line where she would sign if she agreed. She
checked her watch. She needed to go home. She got up, thinking about what they
were asking her to do. It was ludicrous. Scarlet was only fifteen after all.
She got home and walked straight to her mini library. She dropped her stuff on
the floor and placed the folder on her desk. She then scanned her bookshelf,
looking for her book on law. Scarlet picked out the book and flicked to the
table of contents. Chapter Twelve- Laws. She checked up the list. Accepting the
assignment would result in her breaking several laws. But she wanted to know
more. She looked at the folder. It had said something in it about working with
a partner. Who? She didn’t want the black-haired boy. He was creepy. And the
first person Scarlet had met that didn’t react to her glare. People could meet
it, and then shy away. But never stare back. It worried Scarlet greatly that
anyone could do that. She looked
across at her desk again. This was exactly what she had been wishing for. But
now it was waiting for her she wasn’t so sure.

* * *

Ace walked back to the doors as he was reading. The girl had
said that the doors were The Entrance.

‘Yes. And, I’m afraid, if you can’t say the place’s name,
you can’t get the job.’

‘Fine.’ Ace tensed. ‘The Echo
Side.’ The girl smiled.

‘And you’ll have to stop flinching.’ And with that the girl
had walked away. Ace shuddered. The Echo World. That place was mysterious and
terrifying. There was the world that Ace knew and loved and the Echo World. The
Vacuum was the space in-between. In the side Ace was standing in, people could
be mean, bad and disgraceful. But on the Echo side there was a version of Ace.
A version of Ace who was pure evil. The was a version of Travis who was pure
evil. The Echo land was called that because it was like and echo of society.
Like something that’s been broken and out back together, but not quite right.
Something had to change. The people, activities the places were all the same on
both sides, but on the Echo side, it was lined with hate, spite and evil. Ace
finished reading and looked at the doors again.
It was going to be dangerous. And life-threatening. Ace was in. He ran
home and signed the paper.

* * *

The next morning Scarlet woke up and got ready for school.
She eyed the folder and put it in her backpack. She trotted to school, feeling
good about getting to sit with her real friends again. She got to school and
walked to her locker. She put her bags away and looked for her friend Sara.
Finally, after ten minutes of looking, Scarlet found Sara. Sara saw Scarlet and
scowled.

‘Sara, I swear, I don’t know why I was talking to those
morons. I’m sorry about what I did, and I want to make it up to you.’

‘Why should I trust you? You deserted me.’

‘Because yesterday I told Charlotte and Jessica that they
had about as many brain cells as a plank of wood.’ Scarlet smiled. Sara smiled
as well.

‘Welcome back buddy. Lets get to class.’

* * *

At lunch Ace was walking to the library when he saw a girl
holding the same folder that he had gotten yesterday. He watched for a moment, and
then kept walking. It had to be a coincidence. He scampered to the library, and
started to do the homework he was meant to be doing yesterday. After a few
minutes he saw the girl with the folder walk in. She was in some of his
classes, but he couldn’t remember her name. She had ash brown hair, and
turquoise eyes. Her skin was pale, and had a couple freckles. She sat down at a
desk at the other end of the library and opened up the folder. Ace watched her
get out a pen and read the folder. It could be her homework. She could be doing
homework, in a cream cardboard folder. She could be finishing off an
assignment, which was encased in a folder. It could be hundreds of things. But
he was still curious.

* * *

Scarlet was sitting in the school library, reading the
folder again. She wanted to sign, but was way
to nervous. As she got closer to the end, the hand she was holding the pen in
was shaking slightly. She got to the end and stared at the dotted line where
she was supposed to sign her name. Scarlet wished that the line would fade
under her gaze. She blinked, snapping her out of it and glanced up. In the
short look, she realised that a boy was staring at her. She closed the folder
and put the pen in her pocket. She wasn’t signing while someone was watching.
No way. She got up, and moved to a place where she could get a proper look at
the boy without being conspicuous. She looked at him then pretended to get a
book out. Scarlet thought his name was Ace, but couldn’t be sure. It might’ve
been Alec or something. All she knew was that he hung out with Travis. Which
means she didn’t like him. His hair was shaggy in length and sandy in colour.
His eyes were emerald green. His skin was slightly tanned. He made eye contact
with her and she scowled at him. When he had made a suitably disconcerted face,
she walked out of the library. She met Sara on the way back to her locker, and
they chatted till it was time for class. Scarlet finished talking with Sara and
smiled. Sara provided a level of intelligence to the conversation that
Charlotte and Jessica would never be able to compete with. Scarlet walked to
the park after school at sat at the same bench she had yesterday and began
working on that day’s homework. About half an hour later the boy from school
sat at the other side of the bench. Scarlet was getting annoyed.

* * *

Ace followed the girl out of school, to the park. He stood
by a tree as she started her homework, and eventually went to sit near her. She
looked up at him. She then realised who he was.

‘Dude, what the hell? You were watching me in the library
today, and you followed me here. What’s your problem?’ She asked, clearly
angry.

‘Look, my name’s Ace, and I saw you with a folder at lunch.’
He stammered.

‘Mine’s Scarlet. That folder is private.’

‘Yes, I know it is, but I have one just like it.’

‘So? You can get those folders anywhere.’ She said, doing
her homework again. Ace leaned forward.

‘Yes, I know, but I didn’t get it. Someone gave it to me.’
When Ace said that Scarlet looked up again.

‘Black hair, pale skin, dark eyes?’ She asked. Ace nodded.

‘Did you sign it?’ Scarlet asked quietly. Ace nodded again.
Scarlet grinned and got out her folder. She signed it.

‘So, what now?’ She asked. Ace was about to say that he had
no idea when the black-haired girl arrived with someone who looked like his
brother. They stood looking at Ace and Scarlet. Then the boy spoke up.

‘Ace Collins, Scarlet Grant. You have both decided to comply
with the contract. Here is the equipment you will need.’ He said, placing two
black backpacks on the bench. Then the girl continued.

‘Your instructions are in the bags. You are each others
partners if you hadn’t figured it out yet.’

‘Yeah, we figured that out.’ Scarlet said. The
black-haired pair smiled, which was a bit creepy.

'We won't be seeing you again.' They said in unison.
They walked away for the last time, leaving Ace and Scarlet by themselves.

The next day, Saturday, Ace and Scarlet met outside
the Entrance. They were dressed in black and they had weaponry strapped to them
in case of an emergency. Scarlet was pale.

'Are you sure we can pull this off Ace?' She asked.
Ace shrugged.

'I don't think they would be the kind of people to
have an error of judgment.'

'True. So, when do we go in?' Scarlet was referring to
a small set of doors to the left of the Entrance. Ace shrugged again.

'The note said wait for the signal.'

'But what signal? Ace, this could be a disaster.'

'Again, I doubt they would've picked us if we weren't
the right people for the job.' right after Ace said this, every guard sprinted
off to the right, where an alarm was going off.

'I bet that's the signal. Let's go.' Ace said, his
eyes lighting up. The pair sprinted across the court, stopping outside the
smaller set of doors. Ace tried the doorknob.

'Shit. It's locked, what do we do?' he said, kicking
the door. Scarlet sighed and got out the lock picking kit in her backpack. Ace
frowned as she did so.

'I didn't get one of them. How come you got one of
them?' He asked.

'Because,' She said through her teeth as she picked
the lock, 'They must've known that I can do this sort of thing.' She grinned
and opened the door. 'Just one of my many talents.' She said smiling. They
walked into a dark, grey hallway. They didn't say a word as they walked through
the passage. Eventually they came a door. Ace checked the map of the indoor
complex and nodded. Scarlet opened the door and the pair walked into the next
room.

‘Whoa.’ Ace said, as he pulled Scarlet into the
shadows with him. They had walked into a room full of guards. They were walking
around the room like clockwork. It was a miracle that Ace and Scarlet hadn’t
been spotted. At the center of the room, there was a column of wiring leading
to the roof. It was thicker than a redwood tree trunk. Scarlet scanned the
room, and pointed at a door at the other end of the room. Ace consulted the
map.

‘That’s the one. How in the hell are we supposed to
get there?’ He whispered.

‘Well, using your brain is a start. We got equipment
for a reason.’ Scarlet said, digging through her backpack. Ace grinned and did
the same. They pulled out what would be useful, and looked at what they had.
Not much. Ace gripped a box of matches.

‘Do you have anything flammable?’ He asked under his
breath. Scarlet nodded and opened her backpack again. ‘How much stuff does she
have?’ Ace thought. Scarlet pulled out a notebook. She then got out a pencil
and wrote: ‘I always keep an empty one on hand.’ She handed him the note book
and whispered,

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Burn it.’ He slid along the wall until he was under a
sprinkler. He then lit a match and set the notebook on fire. He then motioned
for Scarlet to pack everything up and head to the other side of the door that
they had come in by. She did so, and Ace met her about ten feet from the door
that they had entered.

‘When the fire alarm goes off, I assume that they will
exit that way. When they do, we move to the target. Okay?’ Ace said. Scarlet
nodded and shoved her backpack underneath a row of pipes sticking out of the
wall. She then did the same with Ace’s backpack and then wedged herself in as
well. She beckoned for Ace to do the same. Ace jammed himself in, at the very
edge.

‘This is uncomfortable, to say the very least.’ He
grumbled.

‘Would you rather get caught or be uncomfortable for a
few seconds?’ Scarlet hissed.

‘Fair enough.’ He murmured. A couple of seconds later
the alarm went off and the guards left the room. Ace poked his head out and saw
that there was no one left. He got out and stretched. He then helped Scarlet
pull out the bags and together they ran across the room. Scarlet got out her
lock-picking kit again. Ace sighed; knowing that time was of the essence and
kicked the door of its hinges.

‘No one’s going to hear it over the alarm.’ He said,
smiling. Scarlet scowled and pushed him through the door. Ace stumbled through
and scowled back at Scarlet. He then faltered and checked the map.

‘We have to walk up these stairs, and go into the room
above.’ He headed up the stairs, followed by Scarlet. They walked up the stairs
and headed into the next room.

* * *

Danielle looked over her shoulder as the door opened.
She had ignored the fire alarm when it had gone off ten minutes previously. To
her surprise, there were two teenagers standing in the doorway. They looked
just about as shocked as she felt. She faced her keyboard again and finished
what she was doing. She then turned around and faced the kids again.

‘Who the hell are you?’ She asked. The two kids looked
at each other.

‘I don’t think we should tell you that.’ Said the girl.
Danielle snorted.

‘My name is Danielle Clark. Now, who are you?’

‘No offence Danielle, but knowing your name doesn’t
really alter the situation that much.’ Said the boy. Danielle smiled.

‘Okay, so I’m not about to find anything out about
you. Can I ask why you’re here?’ The pair looked at each other and shook theirs
heads.

‘Of course it’s them. Look, I need to know your names.
Just your first names.’ The two kids
had been walking towards Danielle as the conversation progressed and they were
right in front of her now. The boy opened his mouth to answer, then shot his
fist at her chin. Danielle’s head rocked back and her vision clouded.

‘You little shits.’ She said as she passed out.

* * *

Ace grinned as Danielle fell to the floor. He shook
his hand and blew on his knuckles. Scarlet rolled her eyes and knocked him
over.

‘So this is it.’ Scarlet said as Ace got back up
again.

‘Yeah, I guess. What do you think will happen
afterwards?’

‘Lots of running. Lots
of running.’ Scarlet said. Ace got out a pair of scissors and Scarlet sat down
at the keyboard. She typed a message onto the screen, as she’d been told. ‘I
believe that we’ve won this battle Danielle.’ Scarlet looked down at Danielle.
She was fast asleep. Scarlet then proceeded to delete every single document on
the computer. Ace went up to the mass of wiring with the scissors. He cut the
six nearest wires and then something sparked.

‘Time to go!’ He yelled. Scarlet got up and ran for
the door. Ace was already on his way down the stairs.

‘Wait up!’ She shrieked. Ace stopped briefly then
started running again. They ran out and sprinted across the court. They were
running back to Ace’s place.

‘This way!’ He yelled, speeding into a side street. He
jumped a fence and skidded to a stop when he heard the crash of Scarlet hitting
the fence.

‘Ow…’ She groaned. Ace looked at her disbelievingly.

‘Have you never jumped a fence before?’

‘No. That hurt. I didn’t see the fence cause I was
looking over my shoulder and I turned and jumped and hit the fence. Help me
over.’ She scowled. Ace grabbed her wrist and pulled her over the fence. Ace
was having a hard time not laughing at Scarlet. She growled at him.

‘Okay, Scarlet, we need to jump over three fences to
get to my place. Can you handle it?’ He said, smirking. Scarlet scowled.

‘Yes. In fact, race
you!’ She started running in the middle of her sentence and was laughing at
the end. She raced towards the fence, jumped, put her hand on the top of the
fence and vaulted over. Ace followed, thinking he could catch up easily.
Scarlet was a nerd after all. He
sprinted and landed next to her after the third fence. She had stopped and was
looking at a café across the road.

‘I’m hungry.’ She said. Ace was red and panting.

‘You want to have lunch?’ He spluttered. ‘With me?’

‘Sure. I have money in my backpack.’ She smiled and
pulled Ace across the to the café. They sat down at a table up the back. The
waiter came and gave them menus. They sat and ate together, chatting. They
discussed school and teachers for about an hour. Scarlet paid the bill and they
walked back out.

‘Ace, I think the waiter thought we were on a date.’
Scarlet said quietly. They looked at each other and laughed awkwardly. Ace
rubbed the back of his head and grimaced.

‘Yeah… Stupid idea huh?’ He said.

‘Yeah, stupid.’ Scarlet trailed off. There was a
moment of silence and then Scarlet shrugged.

‘I need to go, I’m meeting Sara in the park later and
I need to get changed.’

Scarlet kicked a rock. She knew it. She knew that he
was one of Travis’s pals.

‘God damn moron.’ She muttered. She hated Travis. A couple of years back,
Travis had been an even bigger bully than he was at the moment. He had been the
classic ‘wedgie, swirly and slam people into their lockers’ bully. But one day,
two years, four months and eleven days ago to be exact, Travis thought it would
be fun to add something to his repertoire. His test subject? That strange and
dorky new girl; Scarlet Grant. Scarlet had been walking through a hall, holding
all of her books, trying to figure out which classroom to go to when Travis had
come up to her, offering to help. Unaware that he was a complete dick, Scarlet
had smiled and thanked him, piling half of her books into his open arms.
Scarlet had no idea how Travis managed it, but he had obtained Scarlet’s pencil
case in the process. He somehow flicked a pen out of the case, and quickly
scribbled: ‘Mr. Blandy is a shit.’ Onto her Math book. She had Math next. He knew that she had Math next, and that Mr.
Blandy was her teacher. He also knew that Mr. Blandy was the meanest teacher in
the entire school. Travis earned Scarlet three weeks detention and a counseling
session. Even when she told the people around her that she had no idea where
the message had come from. It was only when she had learnt Travis’s handwriting
did she realize the truth. She had been so angry, but the event had taken place
too long before, and making a fuss would’ve made her look bad. She arrived home
and got ready to meet Sara.

* * *

Ace met up with Travis at the park, his mind still
whirring for the morning’s events. He had gone over Scarlet’s exit inside his
head a hundred times. He didn’t understand what he had said or done to annoy
her. Ace sat down near the lake and put his head in his hands. Travis crept up
behind Ace and grabbed his shoulders, shoving him forwards then back.

‘Got ya!’ He yelled. Ace got up and whirled at him.

‘Not cool Travis! Don’t do that.’

‘Chill man, I wasn’t gonna let you drown.’ Travis
laughed. Ace scowled and punched Travis’s shoulder. Travis punched back. The
two started fighting and rolled around on the grass. When they had finished
they got up and brushed themselves off. Ace looked around and spied Scarlet
sitting in one of the lower branches of the tree. She was sitting next to a
girl, who he a assumed was Sara, and was smiling, but Ace could tell from her
eyes that Scarlet was sad. Sara said something and Scarlet laughed, and then
pushed Sara out of the tree. Ace was about to say something when Travis tackled
him from behind.

* * *

‘Hey!’ Sara
yelled as she fell out of the tree. Scarlet giggled. Sara clambered up the tree
and stood on the branch. Scarlet stood up, and the two of them grappled on the
branch. The branch sagged and the girls lost balance and fell off together,
shrieking. They got up laughing.

‘It’s your fault. You were the one who brought it up!’
Scarlet smiled.

‘Scarlet, what’s up? Why don’t you like Ace? You’ve
never even spoken!’ Sara said. Scarlet stopped suddenly, turned around and
sprinted towards the boys. Sara watched her fly past and scratched her head.
What was Scarlet doing?

* * *

Ace wrestled Travis off and got up, only to be tackled
into the lake by Scarlet. Ace screamed and splashed into the water. He pushed
away from Scarlet, and kicked his legs, shooting towards the surface. His head
emerged and he gasped for air.

‘What the hell just happened?’ Travis yelled. Ace’s
eyes were burning. He saw Sara run up and yell something. He didn’t hear. Ace
twisted in the water and scanned the water for Scarlet. She hadn’t surfaced
yet. He dived again, and saw Scarlet thrashing under the water. She had managed
to get her ankle wrapped in a fleet of seaweed. She was panicking and making it
worse. Ace tried to remove the seaweed, but Scarlet was kicking to hard. He
came back up for air.

‘Where’s Scarlet!?’
Sara yelled.

‘Help me!’ Ace yelled back. He beckoned for Travis and
Sara to help him and dived back under. He attempted to remove the seaweed
again, but Scarlet was thrashing more than ever. He then saw Travis dive in,
followed by Sara. Sara grabbed Scarlet’s legs and held them together. Travis
pinned Scarlet’s arms to her body. Ace swam downwards and untied the plant from
Scarlet’s ankle. Sara and Travis let go and the four of them surfaced. They
crawled out of the water, dripping. Travis, Sara and Ace stared at Scarlet, who
was pale.

‘I think that worked out worse for me than anyone
else.’ Was all she said. Sara broke the silence. ‘Why did you do that?’ She
asked.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Scarlet, why did you tackle me?’ Ace asked. Scarlet
blushed.

‘Because I was angry with you.’

‘Was?’ Ace inquired.

‘Yes. Was. I was
angry with you. I am no longer angry with you. I’m sorry. I don’t think I have
a grudge against Travis anymore either, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy his
company.’ She said.

‘You had a grudge against me?’ Travis asked.

‘Yeah. If you pretend that you don’t know what I’m
talking about, I will have a grudge against you again, so tread carefully.’
Scarlet said, eyebrows furrowed. Travis thought for a moment.

‘Oh… You’re Scarlet…’
He said, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know how it would turn out and, I didn’t want it
to end up quite so severely for you.’

‘You aren’t used to apologies are you?’ Sara said.
Travis scowled.

‘No. But I do feel bad about what happened to Scarlet.
Again, I’m sorry.’ Ace got up. Scarlet also got up. Sara and Travis looked at
them.

‘You going anywhere?’ Sara asked. Ace and Scarlet
looked at each other and nodded. They walked away, leaving Travis and Sara very
confused.

* * *

Ace and Scarlet walked away from Sara and Travis.

‘They’re going to be suspicious Ace.’ Scarlet
whispered. Ace nodded.

‘I know that, but we can’t let them know.’ He said.
They turned a corner and waited. After about thirty seconds a man with black
hair, dark eyes and pale skin walked up.

‘You did a good job this morning. You will be giving
new assignments when they come. But if you wish to continue, you need to train.
Scarlet Grant, you will start either Judo or Karate. Ace Collins, you will
begin learning how to speak either Portuguese or Russian. Do you have any
questions?’ He said.

‘Yes. If we do
keep doing this, we want to know whom we’re working for. I assume it’s a family
thing, considering the similar features.’ Scarlet said, her eyes boring into
his head.

‘Yes. We are The Recollection. Anything else?’

‘The Recollection? Okay. We kind of meant names but
that will do, I guess.’ Ace said, avoiding the man’s gaze.

‘Excellent.’ He walked away. Ace and Scarlet shared a
look.

‘The Recollection?’ Ace said. Scarlet shrugged.

‘I’ll see if I can find anything when I get home. And,
I’m really sorry I tackled you.’ She paused, ‘Into the lake.’ She finished. Ace
smiled.

‘I forgive you. It’d be nice to know what I did wrong
though.’

‘I don’t know. That’s what worries me. I shouldn’t be
tackling people for no reason. So, what language are you picking?’

‘Russian. You? I mean, which form of martial arts?’

‘Judo. I wonder what we did today.’ Scarlet replied.
They chatted for a bit until they had to go home.

* * *

Danielle smiled. Sure, the boy had knocked her out,
but these two were promising. They had done as they were instructed and had
made their way through the complex without getting caught, and didn’t give away
any important information. Ace and Scarlet. They are going to be busy in the
next few months. Danielle eased back into her chair and watched people scurry
about below her. Everything was according to plan.

Two Months Later

Scarlet spoke into her headset.

‘Hurry up Ace, I can only keep the doors closed for
twenty more seconds.’

‘I’m working on it.’ He said back, stuck in a broken
lift, trying to fix it. Scarlet was sitting in the surveillance room of a
skyscraper, using three keyboards at once. They were on holidays and in the
time that they weren’t spending on an assignment, they were having combat
training or learning a new technique of some sort. They had been to classes for
computer technology, engineering, acting and slight of hand. Ace held two wires
together and the lift jumped upwards.

‘It’s working. On my way up.’

‘Great. Get out on floor sixteen, I’ll be waiting for
you.’ Scarlet said. She quickly disabled all the cameras and got up. She opened
the door quietly and peeked out. There was no one around. She stepped out and
closed the door behind her. She made her way to the lift and waited. The lift
doors opened and Ace stepped out. The pair took off their headsets and smiled.

‘And we can talk freely again. How did it go
downstairs?’ Scarlet said, rolling her neck.

‘Pretty good. How was getting into the room?’ He
asked, heading towards the stairs. Scarlet shrugged and followed him.

‘Boring. No one saw me.’ They walked down the
stairs and took the emergency exit out of the building. They hailed a taxi and
rode back to their town. Ace jumped out of the taxi when they arrived, and
opened the door for Scarlet. She stepped out, smiling. It was the middle of the
afternoon and Ace and Scarlet still had a few hours to relax. Ace closed the
taxi door. The driver wound the window down.

‘Good work Ace, Scarlet.’ The river said. Ace and
Scarlet faced him and saw that he was obviously a member of The Recollection.

‘Thanks? Do we have a new assignment already?’
Ace said. The driver shook his head.

‘No. The leader wants to show you something.
That’s exciting. She only ever talks to the people she thinks are worth it.’
The driver handed Scarlet a note.

‘Go there. If you don’t turn up, it’s quite
likely that she’ll get you killed. So I’d go.’ The driver smiled and drove
away.

Scarlet and Ace met up at the address half an
hour early. They looked at the building. It was a cottage, and it looked like
someone lived there. They sat on the curb on the street across from the house
and talked. Scarlet checked her watch.

‘Time. Lets go.’ She said, getting up. Ace
groaned and got up. They walked across the street together. Ace knocked on the
door. There was silence from behind. Scarlet felt nervous. She knocked on the
door. Still no response. Ace and Scarlet looked at each other.

‘Maybe she didn’t hear?’ Ace said. Scarlet
nodded. She didn’t trust her voice right then. Ace looked at her, noticed that
she was nervous and held her hand. Scarlet blushed.

‘I’ll try again.’ Ace said, filling the silence.
He rapped his knuckles against the door again. Finally, they heard movement
come from inside the house. The door opened and an old woman stepped out.

‘Well come in! I don’t have all day!’ She said.
The woman had grey hair and pale skin with deep wrinkles. Her eyes were grey.

‘Pardon me asking, but what’s your name’? Scarlet
asked, taking her hand back from Ace’s grip. The old woman smiled.

‘Don’t you remember me?’ She said. The two kids
squinted at her and shook their heads. She smiled again and pulled her hair
off. She peeled away her skin and smiled. She now looked between twenty-five
and twenty-eight years old. She now had medium copper colour hair and tanned
skin. Her eyes remained grey.

‘Danielle!’ Scarlet cried. ‘Danielle Clark! You
were there on our first assignment! You’re
in charge of The Recollection?’

‘Yes. I am. I’ve been watching you since the
very beginning. You’re a good team.’ Danielle said. ‘By the way Ace, you are an
incredible puncher.’ Ace turned red
and then paled.

‘Uh, I-I-I’m s-sorry.’ He stammered. Danielle
laughed.

‘It’s okay, you did the right thing in the
situation.’

‘So, why did you want us?’ Scarlet asked.
Danielle smiled again and led them to the back of her house. I looked ordinary
in Ace’s eyes and Scarlet thought that the ornaments were pretty, but neither
of them really saw the point in meeting here. Danielle was still smiling when
she turned around and leaned on the wall next to her. Ace opened his mouth but
Danielle put her finger to his lips. She then thumped the wall next to her. The
wall opened to a staircase leading down. Danielle started walking down the
stairs. Ace moved to step down but Scarlet grabbed his arm.

‘Can we trust her?’

‘I don’t see why not.’ Ace said. Scarlet crossed
her arms, frustrated and reluctantly walked down the flight of stairs after
Ace. They followed Danielle through a doorway.

‘If you get vertigo, I don’t recommend looking
down.’ Danielle said. This, of course, caused Ace and Scarlet to look down
simultaneously. Ace wretched and Scarlet leaned on the wall next to her. They
were standing in a corridor made completely of glass. There was a twenty-foot
drop between the glass floor and the concrete floor below it.

Echo. I think this should be counted as my first proper story. I wanted this to be published, but I don't think I'll ever get any further. The plot was good initially, but there isn't enough complexity. There other problem is that I don't know the characters well enough. They have very basic personalities, and they bore me, to be honest. There were only two real twists in the plot. I had the beginning and the end in my head, and the end, but no in between.